8 incredible scenes from historical films that actually happened

The creators of historical films often conjure up some moments to make the plot more exciting. But in this collection you will find only those scenes that were really inspired by real events, which makes these films even more incredible!

In "Pearl Harbor" (2001), in principle, there are quite a lot of authentic moments, but what they recreated really accurately is the story of Doris Miller. In the film, we see Miller (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) get behind an anti-aircraft machine gun and shoot down several Japanese planes.

The real "Dory" Miller joined the U.S. Navy in 1939. However, at that time, the Navy did not allow African Americans to receive any promotions, and therefore Miller served as a canteen attendant.

On December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began, Miller was doing laundry aboard the battleship West Virginia. Miller entered the fight without formal training. He shot down several enemy planes with a 50-caliber cannon and dragged many wounded soldiers through the burning ship to safety.

He was one of the last sailors to leave the ship when the West Virginia sank, and he swam 365 meters to shore. Miller became the first black sailor to be awarded the Navy Cross. In 2020, the Navy named an aircraft carrier after him.

Many will agree that this was one of the most heartbreaking scenes in James Cameron's film Titanic, but it becomes even sadder if you know that it is based on the story of real people, Isidore and Ida Strauss.

Isidore Strauss was a co-owner of the Macy's department store, and he and Ida visited relatives in Germany. When the Titanic collided with an iceberg on April 14, 1912, Isidore and Du were sent to lifeboat number eight. However, Isidore refused to get into it when he saw that young men were being denied the opportunity to escape. Ida also refused a place in the boat, telling her husband: "Where you go, I go."

The couple were last seen together on the deck, holding hands. In fact, James Cameron even filmed an entire scene in which Isidore and Ida refuse seats on board the boat, but decided not to include it in the final version of the film.

Crossing the Line (2005) is a biographical romantic film telling the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Although the proposal scene in the movie seems heavily embellished, Johnny did propose to June right in the middle of the performance, and it came as a surprise to her.

On February 22, 1968, they were performing the song "Jackson" at a concert in London, Canada, when Cash suddenly stopped singing (but continued to play guitar), and asked June to marry him. She said yes, and the lovers got married on March 1, 1968.

In the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), actor Jonah Hill plays Donnie Azoff, whose prototype was Danny Porush. As in the film, Porush was indeed the co-founder and former president of Stratton Oakmont. There is a scene in the film in which Jonah Hill's character swallows a goldfish right in the office, and, according to Porush himself, this happened in real life:

Jonah Hill, in turn, really wanted to swallow the fish for real, but could not because of the law on animal cruelty. However, he kept the live fish in his mouth for about three seconds.

The film "Hidden Figures" (2016) tells the story of three African-American mathematicians who worked at NASA and helped put astronaut John Glenn into orbit. In the story, one of them, Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monae), appeals to a segregated court with a request to allow her to enroll in advanced training courses that were held at a school for whites so that she could become an engineer.

As a result, she gets permission and celebrates the victory. According to the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, on which the film was shot, this really happened. Mary appealed to the school board with this request, and eventually the city authorities gave her permission to attend classes at a school for whites.

Although the main storyline in Titanic about the novel of the main characters is fiction, this did not prevent director James Cameron from adding a lot of interesting "Easter eggs" to the film, referring to real events. One of them is a Renault Type CB Coupé de Ville car from 1912, which is hoisted onto the ship at the beginning of the film, and then Jack and Rose are found in the cargo hold of the ship.

The car that was on board the real Titanic belonged to William Carter of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Carter bought a car while traveling with his wife and children in Europe. The Carter family survived the wreck of the Titanic, but Carter's servant Alexander Cairns and chauffeur Augustus Aldworth died. Since the ship was discovered at the bottom of the ocean, several expeditions have tried to find the car, but without success. Most likely, there is almost nothing left of him.

In a scene on Omaha Beach in the movie "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg reproduced real events so accurately that after the release of the film, the Department of Veterans Affairs had to increase the staff on the telephone support line to cope with calls from World War II veterans who needed psychological help.

Instead of showing the war beautifully, as all war films did before Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg wanted to show it real, and shoot the opening scene as realistically as possible.

Since we are talking about "Saving Private Ryan," it is worth noting that Steven Spielberg also paid tribute to the American sniper Carlos Hascock in the film. In one scene of the film, sniper Daniel Jackson (played by Barry Pepper) kills a German sniper by shooting him in the eye.

This scene is a tribute to US Marine Carlos Hascock. During the Vietnam War, Hascock was shot from cover by snipers of the Vietnamese People's Army. Hascock managed to make out the optical sight of the enemy's rifle and shoot him exactly. Hascock is considered one of the best snipers in America, and no one has managed to repeat this shot so far.